Charles Koch Arena popularly known as The Roundhouse, is a 10,506-seat multi-purpose arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 on the campus of Wichita State University

Wichita State University

Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....

 in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

. It is home to the Wichita State Shockers men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 team

Team

A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...

s.

History

The arena was originally built in 1953 as the University of Wichita Field House. It was considered several years ahead of its time because of its circular design, which gave nearly every fan a clear sight line and put the seats very close to the action. As a result, it was quickly nicknamed "The Roundhouse," a name that has stuck to this day. When Wichita State joined the state university system in 1964, the arena was renamed the WSU Field House.

In 1969, the arena was officially renamed Levitt Arena after Henry Levitt who had just died. Levitt's Wichita clothing store

Henry's (clothiers)

Henry's was a family-owned clothing retailer in Wichita, Kansas from 1911 until 1993.The store sponsored the Henry Clothiers basketball team which won three consecutive national Amateur Athletic Union championships in 1930-1932 at a time when colleges, corporate-sponsored teams, and private...

 sponsored basketball team won three consecutive national Amateur Athletic Union

Amateur Athletic Union

The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...

 titles in the 1930s at a time when colleges and corporate-sponsored teams competed in the same tournament.

Endowment

Following a $6 million endowment from Charles G. Koch

Charles G. Koch

Charles de Ganahl Koch is co-owner, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States according to a 2010 Forbes survey...

 the arena underwent a $25 million renovation in 2002-03, popularly known as the "Roundhouse Renaissance." The old arena concourse was completely demolished and a new one built around the original playing/seating area. A portion of the seating bowl was remodeled to make for more legroom. All new seating was installed as well as a video scoreboard, and virtually every surface that was not renovated was given a fresh coat of paint. The Shocker basketball teams played at the Kansas Coliseum

Kansas Coliseum

Kansas Coliseum was a complex, in the Wichita suburb, of Valley Center, Kansas, that hosted sporting events, concerts and shows.It consists of four pavilions, one RV park and the 9,686-seat Britt Brown Arena, named for Harry Britton Brown Jr., of Wichita, the former owner of The Wichita Eagle...

 for the 2002-03 season while the arena was rebuilt.

Recent Years

Koch Arena hosted the 2008 Kansas State High School Activities Association

Kansas State High School Activities Association

The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...

 Class 6A state wrestling tournament. The arena also hosts numerous high school basketball games involving schools from the Wichita City League. The KSHSAA Class 6A boys and girls basketball state tournaments will move to Koch Arena from Emporia State University

Emporia State University

Emporia State University is a university in the city of Emporia in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills.- History :...

's White Auditorium

White Auditorium

The William Lindsay White Auditorium is a 7,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Emporia, Kansas, that houses Emporia State University men and women's basketball NCAA teams and the women's NCAA Volleyball team.. It was built in 1940 and is the home of the Emporia State University Hornets Men's and...

 starting in 2011.
As Levitt Arena it hosted the 1977 and 1989 Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...

men's basketball tournament title game.